Occupy Wall Street - Illusion or change?

The media says:

Occupy Wall Street began a month ago in lower Manhattan among a few young people, and has grown to tens of thousands around the country and the world. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll says more than one-third of the country supports the Wall Street protesters, and even more – 58 percent – say they are furious about America's politics. – The Huffington Post¹

Dozens of such groups have since formed across the United States, spurred by anger at the power of giant corporations, frustration at joblessness, and exasperation with politicians who refuse to increase taxes on the richest 1 percent of Americans while slashing programs for the poor. – The Philadelphia Inquirer²

Let's be honest. The American "establishment" – mainstream media, political elites, academics – have absolutely no clue what to make of the Occupy Wall Street protests. The month-old movement has spread across the world, but remains centered in dozens of America's largest cities and university campuses. – Guardian³

Occupy Wall Street is a demonstration which started on September in New York’s Zuccotti Park in the Wall Street financial district. The purpose of it is to protest against the social and economic inequality as well as the power and influence the government and corporations (mainly in the financial service sector) have on the United States economy.

The participants' slogan "We are the 99%" is regarded to the difference in wealth between the top 1% and the other citizens of the United States.

Desperation, loneliness, anger, hope, belief - these were the feelings that surrounded me on Friday, October 21, 2011 during the protests that have been going on for weeks now at the City Hall in Philadelphia. In the middle of Skyscrapers and businessmen walking around in suits, there are tents, banners, homeless as well as unemployed people.

At first it was hard to find anyone to talk to. The first group of protesters I tried to approach were like walls telling me not to come any closer and giving me no way to get through. At the beginning I was disappointed. I admire people who want to change something but their faces already portrayed hopelessness. Don’t you need fire if you want to win a battle? Soon other protester showed me the ambition I was missing and I had some very interesting conversations.

One man to whom I talked had lost his job two weeks ago. He said that he was close to a burn-out and that’s why he asked for a week off to recover. The answer he received: “If you leave now you don’t have to come back”. Is it possible that everybody is expendable? Apparently yes! No mercy, it doesn’t matter how much you give or have given to a company in the end everybody is replaceable.

I asked him what his expectation of this movement was. His answer:

“This movement has merit! People have been blind so far but the new generation will open their eyes and make them realize that something has to be changed. Capitalism has no moral or obligation to people only to money”. - Antonio

Antonio knows that this movement is not going to change anything from the governmental side. The government is already aware of the problems. In Antonio’s view the fact that after graduating our children will not find a job and maybe become criminals or have drug/alcohol problems will reveal that this situation is our fault because we support the “rich man”. For me Antonio’s way of thinking is really interesting and that is why I enjoyed talking to him.

Furthermore greg, who is a Quaker, said: “We believe in social equality, so all human beings should be treated like this. It is immoral that some people have so much money whereas others have (almost) nothing. This movement will be a cultural transformation around the value that is placed on humans."

In case you are thinking that I spelt “greg” wrong with a small “g”, greg himself told me that his name is written with a small “g”. When I asked him for the reason he told me: “All important things are written in capital letters and since according to the English language things like tree, flower, street, house and so on are not important, I spell my name with a small “g”, because I am not more important than nature”. I find this a very interesting thought and that’s why I decided to share it with you.

After speaking to greg, I had a very curious conversation with two guys:

We are not homeless we are home free! Live life to your fullest and have fun - fuck the politics! - Tank and Juniper

So what do we make of all this? At first I was confused, I wondered why would someone choose to life like this? How can you enjoy life if you live in a tent without money? Aren’t they scared of dying any moment because of lack of food or the cold? I basically figured out that they rather die knowing that they are free than be a prisoner of society. Interesting thought isn’t it?

According to our discussion in class, US citizens have always supported and protected the wealthy. Since they believe in the American Dream so strongly they are afraid of spoiling their chance by acting “incorrectly”. Michael Moor says in one of his writings: “Don’t attack the rich man, because one day that rich man may be me”. Honestly, for me this is understandable. I come from a country where people are very realistic and would never protect a person in a high position to such an extent. We know that the chance to become rich is 1/100. In fact as soon as the news paper writes about pay raises in the management sector people start to complain. And I am only talking about small amounts like thirteen to fifteen times more than a standard employee earns. Imagine Swiss people had to deal with CEOs and Presidents of companies getting 411 times more than the general public like in the US. They literally would go crazy!

Talking to those people, looking at the atmosphere that is surrounding the United State right now and reviewing this part of the American culture makes me feel positive about this movement. Even my survey shows that Americans have started to realize what is causing all this unemployment, homelessness and lack of money. 90 % were completely against the fact that CEOs should earn as much money as they can get. They are aware now that protecting the wealthy side of society only harms them rather than helps them.

I am sure it will take some time till the change can be put into practice but like I always say: “Better late, than never”. We own our progeny a safe and fair world – lets fight for this!